


Each First, and the Last

by ChaosMorning



Series: DaiKen Week 2017 [1]
Category: Digimon - All Media Types, Digimon Adventure Zero Two | Digimon Adventure 02
Genre: Alternate Universe - Royalty, DaiKen Week 2017, M/M, now with fanart
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-06
Updated: 2017-06-06
Packaged: 2018-11-09 17:39:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,864
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11109570
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ChaosMorning/pseuds/ChaosMorning
Summary: Daisuke knew that a single human lifetime was not going to be enough for him, so he was desperate for every moment that he could steal.





	Each First, and the Last

**Author's Note:**

> Day One: Royalty

When Daisuke first met Ken he was eleven years old.

 

…though, _met_ might actually be a bit too strong a word to use.  
  
It was one of the rare trips where his father brought the entire family with him to the village proper. Usually it was just the two of them hauling rice and barley from the farm, but the harvest this season was bountiful, which was wonderful of course, but it meant a great deal more work. The help was a load off of his shoulders. Plus, it was always fun for him to watch his older sister grouse about being made to work.    
  
When Daisuke first saw him, Ken was being carried in his norimono through the square by a group of six palanquin bearers, each in royal blue garments tied by sashes baring the colours of Clan Ichijouji.  It was the most ostentatious display of wealth and class that he had ever witnessed.  
  
The norimono looked like a portable shrine and inside it Daisuke could see a figure that he certainly found worthy of worship.  
  
Daisuke knew that the boy had to be a member of Clan Ichijouji. They were the ruling house of this part of the land, and his father would never bring their entire family, let alone Daisuke to the town if he knew that nobles from another clan were visiting. That would just be courting disaster, especially given Daisuke’s record when it came to keeping his mouth shut.  
  
But this boy – _this boy –_ he was the single most beautiful thing that Daisuke had ever had the privilege of laying his eyes upon.  
  
The young lord caught Daisuke staring at him and fixed him with a curious look. Rather than bow and present proper respect for his lord, Daisuke found himself turning red and dropping his jaw even lower. _His eyes were so… amazing._ He fixated on every detail, committing it all to memory, and for whatever reason the lord did not turn away either, and they remained that way simply looking at one another up until another norimono arrived, this one carrying the scion of the great clan.  
  
The younger lord disappeared as the palanquin bearers began carrying both of the brother’s back to their estate; Daisuke’s father admonished him for not helping set up their wares in the market, but it was alright.  
  
When Daisuke fell in love he was eleven years old.

 

~

 

When Daisuke first spoke to Ken he was thirteen years old.  
  
He and the rest of his family had come to town for Jun’s wedding. She was marrying the eldest son of a family of merchants that sold wares in the territories of three different clans, and even in the capital.  
  
While he was happy for his sister, Daisuke was also somewhat jealous. He was never going to find a match that would lead to adventures like the one’s Jun might get to have now.  He’d probably have to marry one of the daughters from the Inoue family that ran one of the stores in town- they _did_ have a daughter his age.  
  
He shuddered at the thought.  
  
Partway through the night, the focus of the wedding was shifted off of Jun and her groom. The arrival of a norimono and a small group of guards set everyone in the town on edge.  
  
This was not the first time that Daisuke had seen Ken over the two years that followed that fateful day in the market – each time he came to town he kept his eyes peeled for him, and when he did see him he was helpless but to stare on. Each time the lord would look back to him. On the third time, Ken smiled at him before looking pink-cheeked and nervous.  
  
But tonight _was_ the first time he ever got to see the lord step out of his palanquin and onto the ground. While most of the guards and the bearers remained at the side of palanquin, one warrior stood out to assist the lord in exiting his ride.  The warrior was covered from head-to-toe in heavy armour made of green plates that seemed to be infused with trace amounts of dark jade, if Daisuke was ever to have such a splendid thing, he would have save all the money that their farm made for a decade, if not two or three more. The warrior seemed stern, but Daisuke had to stifle a bit of a laugh; the way the mask of his helmet had been made caused the man to look like a great green insect with orange eyes.  
  
But he forgot about all of that when his eyes caught Ken once more.  Ken came and apologized for such an interruption. “I assure you, I meant no disrespect. Disrupting this special day of yours brings me great shame. I only…” Daisuke knew that he was not the only one waiting on Ken’s every word, but the other townsfolk were listening for a completely different reason. “I enjoy weddings very much. I was hoping that I may, provided that you do not find it too bold of me, ask if I might watch the remainder of the ceremony?”  
  
No one would dare deny a lord any request, strange as it might be. When Daisuke looked to his sister, he could see that she thought herself some sort of celebrity, having a lord want to come to her wedding.  
  
Daisuke was unable to concentrate for the rest of the wedding – that earned him an elbow to the rib from his father when he was supposed to be partaking in a portion of the ceremony – but how could he when the man he knew that he had been made for was so close?  
  
Whatever wishes he had been putting out into world came true later that night after Jun was wed. He and Ken finally spoke. The conversation began with a shy, slight tug to the hem of his sleeve, Daisuke whipped back and nearly startled Ken. Neither could stop apologizing to the other for several minutes.  
  
They left and walked along the edge of the river that circled one half of the town. Ken’s green bug bodyguard remained ten and some paces behind his lord. Daisuke could feel his eyes boring through the back of his skull for the entire evening.  If anyone were to ask him what they spoke of that night, Daisuke would not know what to say. They spoke like old friends, but with the hesitant pauses and small shared glances of strangers.  
  
When Daisuke first befriended a prince he was thirteen years old.

 

 

~

 

When Daisuke attended his first funeral he was fifteen years old.  
  
After the death of Lord Osamu, Clan Ichijouji declared a period of mourning that was to last for a week and two days for both their own family, and for their subjects, and the sorrow that the family felt seemed to wash over all of their lands.  
  
Dignitaries from the other four great clans rode to the Ichijouji castle. An envoy of the Emperor arrived, carrying messages of shared grief for the loss of such a gifted and noble son.  
  
More shocking than any Imperial ambassador was when Daisuke arrived at the castle. The insect warrior came to the Motomiya’s farm earlier in the day, presented him with proper mourning attire, and immediately escorted him back to the castle, and straight to Ken’s side. Daisuke had never been so close to the ruling lord and lady of the clan. He had never actually seen the lady of the house before, and what he had seen of the lord was limited to when he watched a military drill when he was a boy, looking on from where he sat in the boughs of a tree.  
  
It was a privilege beyond measure to be invited to such an event, even if he and Ken shared a strange sort of friendship. Ken wordlessly thanked him for coming. Neither the lord nor lady seemed to notice him, and if anyone else did, then they did not comment out of respect for the decorum of that sombre day.  
  
Part way through the funeral, chief mourners were given small and smooth stones. Daisuke knew that they were meant for putting the nails into Lord Osamu’s coffin, and he understood at once why Ken’s hand was shaking.  
  
The only action more audacious than showing his face in such noble company was when Daisuke took Ken’s hand in his own, trying to still his fears. He could feel the smooth stone, slick with sweat from Ken’s palms, and he could feel the dying vibrations as Ken managed to still his trembling hands.  
  
When evening came and the visiting lords and ladies were being seen to, Ken walked Daisuke to the gates of the castle. It was Daisuke who was trembling then, caught completely off-guard when Ken took his face into his hands.  
  
When Daisuke first kissed Ken he was fifteen.

 

~

 

When Daisuke was first invited into Ken’s chambers he was eighteen.  
  
He had served Ken as a palanquin bearer for three years now, having been invited but a week after Osamu’s funeral.  
  
_"I wish very much that we could spend more time together.”_  
  
Daisuke’s heart nearly stopped when Ken said that to him. To his ears it sounded almost like a confession rather than a job offer. Still, it paid enough that he could leave the farm without his parents being unable to keep it going, and it meant more time with Ken, and Daisuke knew that a single human lifetime was not going to be enough for him, so he was desperate for every moment that he could steal.  
  
Outside of his duties as a palanquin bearer, Daisuke spent most of his time at Ken’s side. Some days it seemed like he shadowed him more than Ken’s own bodyguard. They talked for hours at a time while Ken went through his studies or practiced the art of the blade. He watched as Ken spent time writing out calligraphy and raking through a garden of sand and rock.  
  
Daisuke didn’t really understand the point of that last one, but it meant he got to watch Ken for hours at a time, and he never tired of the way his kimono moved when he bent to pull the rake back to him.  
  
It was late spring and Daisuke had spent much of the day with Ken walking through the grounds of the castle. They watched koi in the pond of the castle’s gardens, and Ken resumed his age old attempts to teach Daisuke to read – which he could now, it was only a matter of teaching him to _like_ reading that Ken had yet to succeed in. During the evening they shuffled through the fallen and wilted cherry blossom petals that the servants had yet to clean from the grounds, and when Ken would normally have Daisuke slip off with him for a kiss before they retired to their respective quarters, he instead led Daisuke by the hand into his quarters.  
  
He was half certain that Ken’s bodyguard would cut him down the moment he stepped foot in, but he remained nowhere to be seen. Daisuke supposed that Ken always was clever when it came to getting what he wanted.  
  
Daisuke listened as Ken read poems to him – poems Ken had written _about him._ He wasn’t the best with literature or art, but he was overcome with how much effort Ken had put into them.  
  
“There are twenty all together,” Ken said.  
  
And then Ken kissed him with hunger and anxiety in near equal measure. It was likely more anxiety on Ken’s part and more hunger for Daisuke, but that seemed common enough for them; Ken bade Daisuke to sit down and he did. He just wasn’t sure why.  
  
It only took a moment for him to learn though.  
  
He watched Ken’s body fixed by a corona of moonlight. He watched as Ken’s kimono dropped down, first showing his bare back, then all of him as it fell to his feet.  
  
As though it was the first day that he laid eyes on him, Daisuke found his jaw going slack, awestruck and lovesick at the sight of Ken.  
  
When Daisuke first made love to Ken he was eighteen.

 

~

 

When Daisuke learned that the Emperor had been assassinated he was nineteen.  
  
Poisoned, so everyone was saying. He had been with his wife in the gardens of their palace, spending a rare moment alone when the Emperor took to a fit of coughing. First phlegm, then bile, the blackish blood.  
  
His heart went out to the Empress Dowager.  
  
It was unbelievable. Daisuke thought that everyone loved the Emperor. He ruled over an era of peace and prosperity, and was said to have been gentle and wise.  
  
The Imperial House declared a period of mourning for their own family, their lands, and for all of Japan.  
  
Few abided the decree.  
  
Already the five Great Clans of the empire were stirring, each wanting the heads of their own houses to take the Imperial Throne.    
  
Daisuke learned that Clan Ishida was the first to act. Despite a long history of quarrelling, they apparently made an accord to marry their youngest son to the only daughter of a minor clan, Yagami.   
  
Clan Hida, renowned for the finest samurai in Japan, already had designs of leading the nation the way a shogun might.  
  
Clan Tachikawa had designs to place their only child on the throne. An Empress-Regent. It would be unheard of, but they were always known as non-conformists, and minor clan Kido had already sworn fealty to them, and they apparently had legions of peasant levies at the ready; the scion of Tachikawa was said to be enchanting beyond belief.  
  
Old feuds between other houses were flaring up, supposedly incited by Clan Izumi to prevent them from standing in the way while they took the throne.  
  
Daisuke did not care much for who held the throne. His family had lived on Clan Ichijouji’s lands for generations, and no matter the next Emperor – from the Imperial House or one of the Great Clans – there would be no real changes to lives of simple farmers like his parents.  
  
But Ken obviously did not see it that way. His own clan had a bid for the throne now too, and if Lord Ichijouji took the throne that would make Ken the Crown Prince. He often had anxiety enough over the thought of one day having to lead his family’s own lands, the thought of the entire Empire was too much for him; Daisuke spent a great deal of time trying to work those worries free from his body.  
  
But with the civil war that came in the following weeks, there was little that he could do for Ken’s fears, and he had begun to develop many of his own. He worried for Jun’s husband. Last he had heard he had been trading in the lands controlled by Ishida, and they were in a stalemate battle with remnants of the Imperial House, locking the border for all – merchants included. And his father was too old to go to war – Ken managed to see to it that his father was not included when the Ichijouji’s raised their own peasant levies.  
  
And he worried for Ken.  
  
He worried for Ken every night they spent together in the castle, and soon he worried every night that they spent together in tents pitched near battlegrounds, trying to survive while fulfilling the wishes of Ken’s Clan – to take Heian-kyō.  
  
There was little time to be together now. Less and less every day as Ken’s duties began to allow for practically no freedom.

  
A week until the battle for the city was to begin, so Ken told him. Daisuke had his teeth over Ken’s collarbone and between breaths Ken tried to keep him informed about what was to come. Daisuke informed him about that too, though Ken did not appreciate the joke.

Ken left him with a message that he was to take back to the castle, for the eyes of his mother and father only. Daisuke was not happy to be sent off like this, but it was not as though he could be of much service compared to Ken’s own bodyguard and the soldiers that he had under him. If this made him useful to Ken, he would do it.  
  
A great rain fell during the days Daisuke spent riding back to Clan Ichijouji’s ancestral lands. A road washed away and Daisuke was forced to spend an extra day circumventing it.  
  
Word of the battle for Heian-kyō reached the castle before Daisuke did. It came by way of Ken’s former bodyguard. He learned that the man committed a samurai’s final duty, overwhelmed with the shame of his failure.  
  
He learned that Ken had not given him a message for his parents, and Lord Ichijouji sadly turned the scroll back to him before he and his wife retreated into their quarters. He learned that Ken had written over sixty poems for him, not twenty.   
  
When Daisuke learned that Ken had fallen on the battlefield he was nineteen.

**Author's Note:**

> The above artwork was created by kindnessemitsagoldenlight . tumblr . com


End file.
